"We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive." — C.S. Lewis

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Buffoonery

It should be apparent by now that absolutely everything in American society has been subordinated to politics and messaging by the Left. This is not a good development. It means there is no room for apolitical interactions, no common ground on which both sides can agree “we may disagree, but don’t have to do it here.” There are no symbols around which everyone can rally and say “at least we have this much in common.” Thus the pressure in the cooker continues to grow.

Since the topic of NFL players acting childishly during the National Anthem has become the issue du jour, and has now spread to other sports, I thought I’d put in my two sense cents:

“This is about free speech.” No, it’s not. The Constitution guarantees an absence of government coercion against speech it doesn’t like. The public has always been free to measure the actions and speech of those who put themselves in the public eye. The Left decided years ago to up the stakes in this area by going after the employment of those who said or supported things they didn’t like (for example, search: Brendon Eich, ex-chairman of Mozilla). So it should follow Americans are not required to keep funding the salaries–much less subsidizing the stadiums–of well-paid players who don’t appreciate what they have. The issue is the Left simply doesn’t like it when the same rules are applied to them. Should have read your Alinsky better…

“Only racists and bigots object to this.” Garbage. There are literally millions of veterans (including me) disgusted at watching the NFL borrow the valor of the military with flyovers and huge patriotic displays at their events (something the government even paid them to do), then stand behind players who want to make a particular two-and-a-half-minute tune about them rather than their country. Unfortunately, football’s core demographic is pretty patriotic. The NFL knows this. Let’s see how the bait-and-switch works for them.

A process I’ve seen described as “The Great Tune-Out” appears to be under way. Civic-minded average Americans seem to have decided not to listen any longer to political rants from pampered entertainers, and this is having an effect in multiple markets. Good. It’s about time. We were told after the election that the majority shouldn’t have to live with a candidate who “only” won the electoral college. Majority rule, and all that.

Maybe we’re discovering the majority in this country still values it, and is tired of feeding parasitical organizations that keep spitting in their face. One can hope. In the mean time, enjoy your now-cleared Sunday afternoon schedules!

So the former FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress about his prior investigations and his dealings with President Trump (it’s still strange to type that). Here’s how much of a circus this has become:

Really? Really? Either the former Director or the President (or, quite likely, both) is shading the truth considerably. If it can be shown the Director broke rules on protecting information, or has perjured himself before Congress, there needs to be severe penalties. Congress also needs to take Trump up on his offer to testify under oath. And finally, it appears former Attorney General Lynch put more pressure on Comey than Trump ever did… something you likely won’t hear played up in the press.

Meanwhile, both Nancy Pelosi and John McCain are amply demonstrating in a bipartisan fashion how geriatric Congress has become (and how much we need term limits).

Any last vestiges of credibility our government may miraculously have seem to be vanishing right before our eyes. At this point, maybe an EMP blast from North Koreawould be an improvement. At least then we wouldn’t have to listen to these idiots and their pageantry on radio or TV anymore. And we’d all be too busy scratching out an existence to care about anything beyond the next town.

(a) The utter tone deafness such a photo concept conveys in a world where beheadings and general terrorism are becoming ever more commonplace thanks to outfits like ISIS, and

(b) The serious pushback against and rare consequences for a leftist who went too far — to the point Griffin is now complaining that “Trump broke me” and that her career is over. In other words, “it all started when he hit me back.”

Welcome to the political world your leftist friends created, Kathy.

For years, even decades, individuals running afoul of the misnamed “political correctness” have been harassed, demonized, and in more than a few cases, left unemployed or otherwise financially harmed. For instance, a rodeo clown lost his job after performing with an Obama mask. Now to be fair, there were plenty of inappropriate Obama images during his presidency (including suggestions of lynching, assassination and more). Such excesses rarely failed to gain national attention and condemnation.

So why would Griffin think her stupid idea would be any different? Because of the insulated world she and her fellow travelers live in, and the double standards they are

Less than a year and a half ago, the entire Republican membership of Congress voted to send a bill to President Obama that would have repealed Obamacare.

But that was just for consumption by the rubes back in their home districts. Clearly, the president wasn’t about to agree to dismantling his namesake health care takeover plan.

That the Republican party isn’t truly serious about seeking smaller government should be apparent to everyone. They control both houses of Congress, and work with a President who committed himself to getting rid of the misnamed “Affordable Care Act.”

Because they know he’d sign it. Then they’re not just posturing for the constituents, they’re actually removing an ill-conceived government program riddled equally with incompetence and opportunities for political theft and graft.

It’s time to call their bluff. Everyone who believes the Supreme Court was insane to rule this health care law constitutional, everyone who wants to see health care costs fall instead of rise, everyone who believes the free market, not the bureaucrats best meets our individual needs, simply MUST contact their representatives and demand they resubmit the previous bill.

No more stalling while “a draft” is written. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

Paul Ryan – your membership in the Deep State is showing. You best realize the election of Trump was a symptom of patience becoming exhausted.

Congress is acting in direct opposition to the mandate expressed in November’s election. So here’s the deal, Congress:

The Ivy League brand is the only reason anyone would pay $65,000 a year to experience this nonsense. But with any luck, the past year or so of public attention to what is really going on at these campuses will irrevocably destroy that brand — and good riddance!

“There are people breaking down, dropping out of classes and failing classes because of the activism work they are taking on,” said David, an undergraduate whose name has been changed to preserve anonymity. Throughout the year, he has worked to confront issues of racism and diversity on campus.

His role as a student activist has taken a toll on his mental, physical and emotional health. “My grades dropped dramatically. My health completely changed. I lost weight. I’m on antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills right now. (Counseling and Psychological Services) counselors called me. I had deans calling me to make sure I was okay,” he said…

Justice Gaines ’16, who uses the pronouns xe, xem and xyr, said student activism efforts on campus are necessary. “I don’t feel okay with seeing students go through hardships without helping and organizing to make things better.”

In the wake of The Herald’s opinion pieces, Gaines felt overwhelmed by emotions flooding across campus. Students were called out of class into organizing meetings, and xe felt pressure to help xyr peers cope with what was going on, xe said. Gaines “had a panic attack and couldn’t go to class for several days.”

And these are the well-connected supposed leaders of tomorrow? Consider the irony of ‘students’ (can we call them that if studying isn’t the top priority?) who rally to decry “privilege,” while constantly seeking Dean’s notes that extend their academic suspenses so they can be disruptive crybullies (a recently coined term I find to be spot on) at campus speaking events featuring opinions with which they disagree. What, exactly, are they paying exorbitant tuition for — the latitude to make public nuisances of themselves?

This surrealistic nonsense has gone on long enough. It’s time to stop pretending these institutions produce anything but confused and quite possibly mentally damaged permanent adolescents who are incapable of dealing with reality. These ‘future leaders’ are steeped in the warped worldviews of the self-professed ‘social justice warriors’ who now infest everything from Twitter and other tech industries to entertainment outlets and educational institutions, and who use their influence to enforce a velvet-glove version of fascist thought control. It’s long past time to return the favor and begin the process of ostracizing anyone who supports this insanity. Aside from social networking and trying to signal some sort of liberal virtue, what possible value could be had by hiring someone whose ‘education’ consists of the Red Guard indoctrination described in Brown University’s own newspaper? Any business owner with a smidgeon of sense would be well advised to simply drop in the wastebasket any application from an Ivy League graduate, and to make it known they place no value on a diploma from these cesspools. No high-performing company or organization has time for such drama queens and distractions.

And considering their behavior in recent years, it’s not as though any of “xem” have a leg to stand on to claim viewpoint discrimination. If they want to break the truce of civility, so be it – let xem reap what they’ve sown. Those of us who live in the real world don’t need xem… they need us, just as a parasite needs a host.

The hosts, as our current politics show, are getting a little tired of the non-productive bloodsuckers…

“To most people espousing communism, the authoritarianism isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. All the talk about “sharing” and “compassion” is just to fool the rubes. People espousing communism should be treated as if they are on the same moral plane as people espousing Nazism, because they are.” — Glenn Reynolds

One of the greatest propaganda successes of the 20th Century was to convince people that communism and fascism were opposite ends of the political spectrum, when in fact they both represent collectivist systems in which a small minority direct in excruciating detail the everyday affairs of the average person. Kind of like Uncle Sam aspires to today. The real polar opposite of such regimes is individualism and personal sovereignty. In the extreme this is anarchy, which is hardly desirable either. But the desire for a just and orderly society does not automatically translate into justification for a heavily regimented and autocratic one. And nothing shows one’s ignorance of history so much as calling a champion of small government and personal freedom a “fascist.”

Since Obama took office, corporate profits are way up. So is business investment, job growth (moderately), retail sales, manufacturing (well, barely). Want to buy another house? Interest rates are fantastic. The housing crisis has largely subsided, and home foreclosures are way down. Also, people are buying lots of new cars, and there’s a fully recovered auto industry ready to meet all demand. ((And yet even this editorial seems to admit what good news exists is largely for the well-connected and the oft-decried “one percenters,” rather than a broad-based benefit to Americans. That’s because the wealthy and powerful–on the so-called left and right–have bent government to their service as a gatekeeper. — Jemison))

To hear Mr. Newport Beach tell it, my president is a downright monster. Who cares if he ended the war, saved the economy, restored America’s stature in the world, nailed Osama bin Laden, invested billions in clean energy ((where does the Constitution give Uncle Sam the power to invest in companies with my tax money? — Jemison)), partially reformed what is still the most expensive, least effective health care system in the industrialized world…

And as for the myth that the rich are all anti-Democrat, well… to paraphrase Orwell, “All progressive leftists are equal, but some are more equal than others…”

Obama has not single-handedly destroyed America. The nation’s undoing has been a bipartisan project, decades in the making. Obama’s policies have put the pedal closer to the metal in terms of the pace of ‘change,’ and it is his misfortune to be on watch as it becomes increasingly difficult to paper over the structural rot that Uncle Sam’s bureausclerotic micromanagement of society has produced.